Another Chance
by AnimeWolfGirl16
Summary: Trapped in the Pillar with nowhere to go, and no idea on how they got there, the only way they can go is up... Finding the memories that they seek however might not be worth the price they'll pay.
1. New World, Old Allies

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters, places, etc. in Lost Dimension or Final Fantasy Type-0. They all belong to their respectful owners.**

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New World, Old Allies

Ace blinked open his eyes at the sound of a loud noise, already feeling a headache beginning to form.

 _What…?_

He glanced around, surprised to see that he was in unfamiliar territory. He tried to think back on how he got here, but nothing seemed to add up.

 _The last thing I remember was defeating the Arbiter… We were in Classroom Zero and…_

His memories faded after that, leaving him more confused than when he started. He glanced around the area again, taking in his surroundings. It seemed to be that he was in some kind of destroyed city. The buildings, while some still seemed to be in great condition, had begun to fall apart.

 _What happened here?_

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard the loud noises again, only this time coming from a little bit away from him. He focused on the spot, instantly freezing when a man in armor came around the corner. He took in the man's appearance, noting with confusion that the armor colors didn't match any that Militesi soldiers wore.

 _Maybe a new unit?_

He hesitated however when it looked like the man was looking for something.

 _But… is he really the enemy?_

During the war he had known who to defeat, but here… It seemed like anything could happen.

 _What if they're actually on Rubrum's side?_

His thoughts were confirmed to be wrong however when the man spotted him and let out a string of bullets, which cause Ace to quickly dodge them. He flicked his wrist, noting that his cards still came with ease to his hands.

 _Now… what to do with him…?_

Ace could see two different actions that he could take. He could either kill the man here or take him captive and interrogate the man about what was happening and where he was.

 _Now… which to choose?_

He dodged another string of bullets absentmindedly as he thought about the best course of action. The logical choice seemed to point towards interrogating the man but the question was, would he even talk at all?

"Hey Ace! Need help?"

His head whipped around at the familiar voice, a small smile making its way onto his face when he saw Cater. He had feared the worst after his memories had trailed away.

 _Maybe we all survived somehow?_

She quickly made her way over towards him, glancing back towards the enemy before over at him again. He shook his head before gesturing to the blue and silver clad enemy.

"Just deciding what to do with him."

She frowned a bit at that, dodging a bullet that had been aimed for her, causing her to take a step towards the enemy.

"Isn't it obvious? We just take him out and go help the others." She stated, firing her gun, which hit the side of the man's armor, causing him to become unbalanced.

 _Others?_

He glanced over at her in surprise, the man momentarily forgotten in his mind, as he processed what she had said.

"You mean…" He trailed off and she nodded, before firing again at the man.

"Yeah, Trey and Deuce are just a short ways behind us dealing with more of them. I saw the others as well but figured I should come find you first."

He nodded, before glancing back towards their enemy. The man seemed to be on his last leg and Ace figured that now would be as good as any time to interrogate him. Teleporting behind the man, which caused a sound of shock from their enemy; he quickly grabbed one of the man's arms and held a card to the man's throat. That stopped him real quick from trying to escape, with the man's posture freezing up from the unsaid threat.

 _Now for the interesting part…_

Cater walked up to him, dismissing her gun before taking the man's own. She briefly studied the weapon before tossing it to the side.

"Nothing really that impressive about it. If anything, I'd say it's a lower grade than what they normally use." She stated and he glanced back at the captive.

 _Why would they equip their soldiers with lower grade weapons?_

"Where are we?" Ace asked, glancing around at his surroundings, hoping that the captive actually knew something. For all they knew, the man might just be a pawn and not have been told anything.

 _Which means we'll need to find someone higher up if so…_

Despite being a captive, the man seemed to find something humorous about the predicament.

"You should already know where, after all, you were the ones who decided to come here in the first place." This caused a frown to make its way onto Ace's face and he glanced over at Cater, who only shrugged and looked just as confused as he was. He lifted the card a bit closer to the man's throat.

"It might not look like it…" Ace started, and he vaguely wondered if this was such a good idea. If they were the ones who chose to come here, then how come they couldn't remember anything? "but these cards can cut through anything, even your armor." He stated casually while taking the tip away from the man's throat, causing the captive to relax a bit, before running the card diagonally along the man's arm.

Blood welled up from the thinly cut line, cutting through the armor like butter. He felt the man jerk at the pain, but instantly brought the card back up to the man's throat, causing the captive to freeze up again.

"Now, I'll ask again… where are we?" Ace waited a few minutes before hearing a small reply from the man.

"The Pillar…" The man trailed off, and Ace felt more confusion run through him.

 _The… Pillar? Does he mean the Tower of Agito or the Arbiter's Ark?_

He glanced over at Cater but she seemed as confused as he was.

"You mean the Tower of Agito?" He asked and he could feel the man's confusion.

"No… The Pillar. The End summoned you all here to…" Ace exchanged a confused look with Cater, his grip loosening a bit in his confusion. The man must have noticed their confusion because he went quiet for a moment before cursing. "You don't remember anything? Unless…" Ace tightened his hold a moment later when the man tried to escape. "You're the wrong group!"

 _Wrong… group?_

He was about to ask what that meant, but Cater instantly froze up, summoning her weapon again.

"Ace!" She shouted before jumping out of the way, which prompted Ace to release the captive and jump out of the way.

He glanced back at the man, to see him falling down, a bullet hole in his chest. His gaze was instantly drawn towards a flying small mech machine. Just as his feet hit the ground, the mech was firing at them again, causing him to have to dodge again, while summoning his cards. He flicked his wrist, sending a card towards the machine but cursed when it went wide, just scratching the surface of the enemy. He watched as a bolt from Cater's gun did the same, only on the other side. He dodged again, nearly getting hit this time, instead having to back farther away from the fight.

 _We can't keep missing…_

Suddenly fire sprang up between the enemy and them and he glanced over at Cater in surprise. He knew that she could use magic, as he could, but he never thought that she'd use a spell that powerful with only one enemy. She seemed just as surprised as him and quickly moved over towards him.

"That you?" He asked, while gesturing back to the raging fire, which seemed to be melting the enemy's bullets before they reached their targets. She nodded before re-summoning her gun.

"I tried a basic fire spell and that's what came out." She shrugged although he could tell that it bothered her a bit. "Not that I'm going to complain or anything."

Ace noticed that the fire seemed to be dying down and he tried to focus on the enemy between the flames. All sound around him died out and his vision darkened a bit, focusing solely on the enemy in front of them. He flicked his wrist, sending a card the machine's way as the fire completely died down. Just before the card hit the enemy however, an arrow protruded from the enemy's side, causing smoke to erupt from the machine. It went down in a small explosion of flames and he glanced over towards where the arrow came from.

"Trey." Ace stated in greeting, watching as the older man nodded, moving a bit to allow his other member of their team to move forward.

Ace's heart lifted a bit when he saw Deuce, her flute clutched in her hands. The other girl smiled at him and he raised a hand in greeting. The two parties made their way towards each other, before stopping shortly in the middle of the terrain.

"No one's hurt I take it?" Trey asked as he looked over Cater and Ace and they both shook their heads.

"Just confused." Ace replied and Cater nodded in agreement.

"Were you two together when you woke up or alone?" Deuce asked, her head tilting a bit. "Trey and I were in the same area when I woke up."

Cater wrapped her arms around her body, almost as she were afraid of something.

"I was alone, same with Ace." She stated, before straightening her posture and glancing around. Ace did the same, thinking that it was strange that they hadn't been attacked yet.

 _I mean… there has to be more than just two enemies…_

Ace glanced behind him when he heard hurried footsteps, summoning his weapon before dismissing it once seeing who it was. Cinque, Sice, and Seven were making their way towards them, their weapons also drawn but more so that they weren't attacked by surprise. Ace raised a hand in greeting, before suddenly being tackled by Cinque.

"Acey! You're alive!" He let out a laugh at that before returning the hug that the ginger-haired girl gave him.

"It's nice to see you too Cinque." She finally detached herself to go give the other three members hugs as well while Seven and Sice arrived. Sice looked irritated at something.

"You guys learn anything?" Seven asked and Ace shook his head.

"Only that we're in some kind of Pillar and some guy called The End wanted us to be here…" Ace stated, still feeling a bit irked that he couldn't have gotten any more information out of their captive. His gaze was drawn over to the corpse of the man before back to the conversation.

"What does it matter? I mean, we know who the enemy is so why don't we just go defeat him already?" Sice stated, and Ace couldn't help but let out a small laugh. She and Nine did seem to have more in common from that standpoint of their views.

"Where would we find this 'The End' though?" Cinque asked; confusion on her face as well. Ace sighed before glancing around at their surroundings once again. Nothing really seemed to be standing out as a way out of here…

 _Plus we still haven't found the rest of our class…_

"How about we search the buildings?" He suggested, and the rest of the group nodded, spreading out shortly to look.

It had taken a bit but they had finally found a door that seemed to be out of place in the area, especially for how the building looked. The large door almost seemed to be a bit hidden but once found it was easy to see how they could have missed it. The thing that really stood out to Ace was the blue lighting lining the door.

 _Just like what those enemies had…_

"You think the rest will be inside?" Cater asked and Ace turned towards her, a worried expression on her face. "I mean… we haven't found them so far so they have to be in there, right?"

Ace glanced back at the door with doubt but then figured that they had to be. If they hadn't been outside then maybe they would have been transported here instead…

"That seems to be the logical answer." Glancing at Trey, he watched as the older boy got a pensive look. "Due to the fact that they weren't outside, they must have already entered wherever lies beyond this door."

Seven inspected the door, causing Ace to glance at it again. It didn't seem as if anyone had opened it though…

"But why wouldn't they have looked for us before heading in? We are a team after all…" Cinque frowned at this and Ace decided to speak up.

"Maybe… they weren't able to." He began, getting the others attention. "What if they had been in that room all along, like we all woke up here?"

"That makes sense…" Seven muttered before continuing. "If they woke up there then maybe they're waiting for us to come find them?"

Ace glanced over towards where Sice was leaning up against a wall when she gestured towards the door.

"Does it really matter? Either way, we have a better chance at finding them if we continue moving."

The rest of the party nodded and Ace walked a bit towards the door. He leaned out to touch the surface, not quite sure how the door was designed to open, but instead the door's sides swung in, leaving the space now open where the door had been. Ace glanced at everyone else before entering through where the door had been.

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 **So I'm aware that the summary and title of this fanfiction isn't the best one I've done but hey! At least I got it out! First time writing for both of these archives so hopefully I got everything correct. Please let me know how I did this time and I hope that you all enjoyed!**

 **-AnimeWolfGirl16**


	2. Another Adjustment

**jizang:** Thank you so much for giving this fanfiction a chance! Sorry if the updating schedule might be a bit bumpy but I hope you stick with me till the end!

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Another Adjustment

Ace covered his eyes against the bright light before lowering his hands when he felt them adjust. The room that they were met with when they went in was grey in color with all different box shapes sticking in and out of the wall. Lines of blue seemed to outline some of the structures as well as what looked to be another door across from the one they had just come from.

 _But where are…?_

He walked further into the strange room, frowning when he didn't see any of his other classmates. He glanced back at the rest to see them looking just as confused as he was. He sighed, glancing around the room once more before standing in a circle with Deuce, Trey, Cater, Cinque, Sice, and Seven.

"So… what are we going to do now?" Ace asked and he saw Seven suddenly become pensive.

"Well… that guy said that we were in some kind of Pillar, right?" He nodded before looking over when Deuce gave a small gasp, her eyes lighting up.

"They might be on another floor!"

Ace glanced over at Trey, who nodded as well before glancing around the room.

"It seems highly possible. If they couldn't leave then the logical choice would be to go up…"

Cater leaned back against the wall, causing the others to do the same, lining up shoulder to shoulder instead of in a circle.

"But… how would they have just moved on?"

Ace tried to think of a solution before looking over to see Cinque staring at the door opposite of the one that they had used to come into the room. He stood up and walked up behind her, watching as she tiled her head in confusion.

"What are you doing Cinque?" He asked and watched as she turned towards him, confusion in her eyes.

"It won't open…" She trailed off before turning to stare back at the door. Ace turned towards the door as well, frowning when he noticed that the light blue lines that framed the rest of the room didn't touch this door.

 _Maybe it has to be activated?_

He glanced around before seeing a control panel. Glancing back at Cinque before walking towards the control panel and studying it, a frown made its way onto his face when he saw that the panel was also not lit up. He placed his hand on it anyways despite the fact that he was almost certain that it wouldn't work.

 _Can't hurt to at least try…_

Just like he thought, nothing really happened and he lifted his hand off of the dead panel. He whipped around however when he heard a loud crash, trying not to instinctively summon his cards. What he was greeted with however made him relax slightly despite making confusion and a bit of frustration hit him.

Cinque was currently still standing near the door, her mace drawn and dust flying up into the air, signaling that she had smacked the weapon into the door. The only sign of this was a small dent which made her frown in confusion.

"I hit it really hard too…" Ace let out a sigh at her response before moving over towards her as she dismissed her weapon and taking her gently by the shoulders, guiding her back towards the startled others.

"So… now that we know that blunt force doesn't work. What's next?" Seven asked, as everyone glanced around.

 _It almost seems like we're trapped in here…_

"Ace, can't you…?" At the trailed off question from Cater, Ace glanced over at the tightly shut door in frustration.

"No, the cards are meant as an evasion tactic. They don't allow me to phase through objects…"

"Theoretically though, if you were able to, would there be anything blocking your ability?"

Ace stopped at the question from Trey, feeling a slow cold creep into him.

"Stopping my… ability?" Ace repeated under his breath before looking at the others. They all seemed to be thinking as well.

 _What could be though? Nothing feels any different…_

"Well… since I entered this room, there has been this… oppressive air. Almost as if something should be blocked, but isn't." Ace glanced over at Deuce, her face a mask of confusion.

"Blocking our abilities… and yet-?" Ace was cut off by a large tearing noise, almost as if something was attacking the metal behind them. Noticing that Sice wasn't standing with them anymore, Ace turned around, surprised to see a large 'X' now carved in the door.

"What did you-?" Ace began to ask but stopped when Sice pushed against one of the metal slabs that she had cut into, the piece falling away with a screeching noise.

"It locked behind us so I figured it was our only way to anywhere but here right now." Ace took a step forward, the rest of the group following him as they walked up to the now destroyed door.

"But… I thought we were going up?" The simple question from Cater brought up their previous agreement for their next action back to all of their minds.

"Well, this does seem to be the only way we can go right now…" Seven muttered, glancing at the door before walking up and pushing down the rest of the destroyed metal.

"Theoretically speaking, if we can't go through the door located at the other end of this room nor does there seem to be any stairs or a way up, then this does seem like the most likely way to go."

Ace glanced over at Trey as their small group began to exit through the hole in the wall.

"By going through the door we just came from? What could we gain from that?"

No one answered his questions as he too passed through the opening, the rest of his small team already through the frame and waiting on the other side.

"What if it's a trap though…?" Deuce's quiet question caused doubt to enter Ace's mind. It did seem entirely possible since all other ways of entering or exiting the room they had went into had been blocked off…

 _If it is… then it is wise to charge right into it?_

"Then we'll just do what we always do!" The enthusiastic reply from Cinque caused them all to look over at her smiling face. "Beat up all the baddies and meet up with the rest of our friends!"

Ace couldn't help the smile that made its way onto his face at her simplistic way of looking at situations.

 _That's just what makes her Cinque I guess…_

"So that's our new mission then? Find the rest and then think about what to do from there?" The questions that Ace asked were answered not by a phrase, but by the rest of them nodding before beginning to fan out.

* * *

Ace dodged around another one of the flying mechs that their small group had encountered while looking around the terrain once more, throwing a card to cut through its internal circuits. It seemed unlikely that they would find anything different than what they had already observed, but with no other path, it seemed to be the only one they could choose right now.

"How many of them are there?!" The exasperated statement from Cater caused Ace to divert his attention towards her, where she was quickly dispatching another one of the mechs.

 _It's true… more of these machines keep coming…_

A frown made its way onto Ace's face as he saw more in the distance. Taking a quick glance around at the rest of their group to see that they didn't seem to be any immediate danger, Ace moved on towards the next group of enemies.

 _If I can just-._ His thoughts were cut off as an explosion of lightning magic appeared to attack the mechs farther in the distance. Focusing harder, he thought he could make out another group just beyond the last stretch of buildings…

 _Maybe it's them…_

Picking up his pace, Ace skirted around the corner of a destroyed building, closer to where the fighting was located. Summoning a card to his hand, he was about to charge into the fray before he suddenly stopped. Something seemed… off.

 _But what? It almost feels like…_

Glancing at his surroundings, he walked a bit towards where the battle was raging, hearing sets of footsteps following behind him. The others must have finished with the rest of the enemies for now…

"Why did you-?" Whatever the rest of the question was that Cater was going to ask was cut off as Ace raised his hand, indicating silence. He couldn't hear anything despite the explosions and attacks that should be making at least some sort of noise a short ways from where they were…

"Do you feel that?" He asked, the strange feeling sending a tingling feeling down his neck. Seven stepped up beside him while the rest of their group glanced at their surroundings as well, no doubt coming to the same conclusion that he had.

"Magic." Deuce whispered, looking towards where the battle raged just beyond their location.

"But the question is, who would have casted it?" Ace's gazes remained trapped on the shadows that he was certain were his other classmates, despite Trey's question. No one answered, all lost in their own thoughts.

 _It's possible that one of them in the other group might have casted it, maybe Queen? But then the question is, why…?_

"I can't hear anything…" The trailing statement that Cinque muttered as she stared at the battle in confusion caused Ace to break his concentration and glance at her. Smiling at her reassuringly, he glanced back towards the battle, despite the sinking feeling in his gut.

"It's alright Cinque. You're not the only one that can't hear it."

"Who cares if we can hear anything?!" The angry explanation from Sice make him glanced at her, seeing a flash of light as she summoned her scythe. "What's the point in standing around if the battle is right there?"

It almost looked like she was going to charge forward but was stopped by Seven putting out her arm, stopping the silver-haired girl.

"Wait! It's almost like there's-…" She trailed off, walking towards the battle before stopping and putting out her hand. To Ace's surprise, it met resistance, stopping after hitting a certain point. Almost like her hand was up against…

"A wall…" Muttering he stepped closer to inspect it as well, his hand lying flat against the surface. The others exchanged confused glances before coming up to inspect the wall as well, all of them choosing a different point at a different distance away.

"Assuming this wall goes the whole way around, where would be the best place to destroy it?" Trey asked and Ace shook his head, confusion running through him. Normally if a wall was made by one of them, they could all pass through it, preventing the enemies from doing so.

 _But now… who knows how the magic in this place works…_

"Also, why can't we get through it? Milites doesn't have the means to cast magic like this?" Deuce's puzzled expression cause everyone to look over at her, before Ace's gaze was drawn back towards the environment around them.

"Maybe…" He began, causing the others to glance at him as he continued. "We aren't fighting Milites…"

This caused a gasp from the brown-haired girl and surprised looks from the rest of the team.

"What… do you mean? How can we not be fighting Milites?" Cater's frustrated reply didn't help the situation any, as they were all puzzled over the same thing.

"It's true that the enemies bear a striking resemblance to those the Militesi army use, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it is Milites that we are fighting…" Trey mused to himself and Ace let out a sigh.

"That man, he said we were in a Pillar. It's entirely possible that whoever designed it might not be Milites." Ace stated, going back to staring through the wall. The battle seemed to be over, with the figures on the other side regrouping and the enemy destroyed for the time being. Frustration hit him as he realized that the group beyond the wall had no idea that they were there.

"Deuce, do you think you could-?" The question was cut off as she nodded, with everyone moving away from the wall and back behind her.

A flash of light signified that she had summoned her flute before a solemn melody began to play. A few short notes were all it took for pink light began to glow around her before it burst away from her and towards the barrier in front of them (1). A shattering sound could be heard briefly before shards of glass began to rain down on the terrain. In another flash of light, her flute vanished as she turned to face them, a bright smile on her face.

"That should do it." Smiling back at her, Ace walked forward to see the other group finally take notice of the destruction and where they were.

"Thanks."

They all started to head towards the other group, with the four occupants of the other side doing the same before they all met up in the middle. Ace felt relief hit him when he saw that the figures were indeed the rest of their class.

"Finally someone who isn't trying to kill us!" Jack's enthusiastic exclamation brought a smile to Ace's face and he nodded in agreement. It did seem like the only things they had been meeting were trying to kill them.

Forming a circle with the rest of the members of their team, Queen, Eight, Nine, and King met them a moment later. Queen's hands seemed to still be sparking a bit from the lightning spell that she had most likely cast previously.

"What took you guys so long, huh?" The question from Nine caused Ace to glance over at their hot-headed friend. It looked like the man was going to continue but Eight laid a hand on Nine's shoulder, cutting off his complaints.

"It's not like we exactly went looking for them either, Nine."

"We had our hands full though." Glancing over at King, who merely shrugged in response after stating the fact.

 _So they've been fighting this entire time? And how come we didn't see them on our first scouting trip?_

"Are there any injuries?" Queen asked, her gaze fixed on Ace, causing him to shake his head after glancing at the rest of the team.

"We all seem to be fine. What about you?"

"Same here."

"Did no one notice how we didn't meet up the first time we scouted the area?" The question from Sice caused them all to glance over at her before at their surroundings once more.

"Could that have been because of the wall?" Queen looked over at Ace in confusion, her glasses glinting off the fading sunlight.

"Wall?" Nodding Ace glanced at the rest of their team before answering.

"There was a wall surrounding this area. We had assumed that you had put it up but since we couldn't get through it we weren't sure…" Shaking her head, Queen glanced towards where the 'wall' had been, confusion on her face.

"No I didn't. If anything, none of us noticed it was there…" Her face quickly became pensive while the others looked at where the wall had been in confusion as well.

Ace glanced at their surroundings, back towards where the destroyed buildings were when he felt someone's gaze on him. He almost focused back on the conversation happening, but stopped cold when he met someone's gaze. Despite not being able to see the figure that well, the most prominent feature was the mainly white hair with red at the tips.

 _When did he get there?_

Ace was going to alert the others to his presence when the figure suddenly vanished, as if he had never been there in the first place. Quickly turning back towards the others, Ace gestured over towards where the man had been.

"Guys, did you see-?" The rest of his sentence was cut off when a spiking pain went through his head, dimming his vision for a moment. A flash of white appeared in his vision before everything went dark. He could hear voices, but they all suddenly seemed far away, causing Ace to have a hard time understanding who was talking.

"Ace!"

"Lower him down slowly!"

"Did any of you see if he was hurt?"

"There doesn't seem to be any external injuries…"

"Then what's wrong with him!?"

Suddenly all sound cut off and Ace fought against the tide of darkness that threatened to overtake him. If he could just open his eyes…

Suddenly two voices asked the same question, overlapping each other, ones that he felt he should know but didn't have any recollection of.

" _Ace, can you hear me?"_

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 **(1)– Deuce has an attack in Final Fantasy Type 0 that is called Black Requiem. Although I myself have never used it during my playthroughs so far, I looked it up and made do with what I could hear and see happen.**

 **So how was that? Did it peak your interest a bit? Sorry this took three months to get out but thankfully it is slightly longer than the last chapter! :) Who do you think the voices that Ace heard were? And who could have put up that wall if it wasn't one of Class Zero? Please let me know what your thoughts were on the chapter! Have a nice day! :)**

 **-AnimeWolfGirl16**


	3. If Anything Goes Wrong

**Guest:** Thanks for the review! It really motivates me to know that people actually are enjoying the story! When I first started this I thought that no one would actually take any interest. Turns out I was wrong! :) Sorry this took so long to get out but I felt like I'd have a better understanding of the story if I finished the game first.

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If Anything Goes Wrong…

"How did they get in the Pillar?!" The man's childish outburst caused a small smile to appear on the man's face. The fact that a person this powerful could get upset by such a small thing…

"Does it really matter?" White hair whipped around towards him at the question he asked, eyes glaring with hatred.

"Yes!" The End hissed out as he looked from the top of the Pillar, down towards the first floor, as if he could somehow see the Pillar's latest victims. "It wasn't supposed to be them! It was supposed to be _**him**_ and his-!"

"Regardless, this doesn't change anything." A crack appeared in the wall behind them, a section of it crumbling to the ground.

"How, how-!" The End gestured towards the lowest floor before out towards where the military most likely was. "-does this not change anything!? You brought them here! They were supposed to be your problem!"

The man gave away no indication of the irritation he was feeling at the younger's outburst. Something as petty as revenge would get him nowhere in life…

"And they will be. You can still get your revenge on him while they're here in the Pillar." More of the wall crumbled away, falling towards the ground and blocking off one of the routes towards the exit.

"How?" The white-haired man's voice seemed slightly calmer, but he knew this was just a farce. The End wouldn't calm down so quickly, not since he was merely _human._

"You can still harm him _through_ them, _using_ them." The man walked towards the railing, looking over towards where a small campfire burned against the dark sky. "Right about now, _they_ should be making contact." He turned towards his partner, watching as the man's gaze followed his own, suddenly looking quite interested in something.

"You mean-."

"Yes, they have made the trade. Anything you do to them will hurt the ones outside." At his statement, The End glanced over at him, suspicion in his gaze.

"And you know it will work?" The man allowed a smirk to appear on his face as he began to walk away.

"Of course. After all, I'm the reason they're here."

He walked towards the exit, preparing to leave before being stopped when The End spoke up again once more.

"If anything goes wrong, I'm going to hunt you down."

Another smirk appeared on his face as he left.

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

 _I have others to visit besides you. Besides, you wouldn't ever make it to where I'm going even if you tried._

* * *

" _You're back." Ace tried to blink away the bright light in his vision, finding himself in a completely white space. Various words flashed around the area, too quick for the blonde to read, before his vision focused on the blurry form of a man. "Or I should say welcome, since this is your first time actually being here."_

 _He took a cautious step towards the figure, trying to summon his cards as he did so. The result was much different than what he had expected, with him only feeling a void where his magic should have been._

" _Where is 'here' and what have you done?" The question came out of Ace's mouth before he could stop it, words floating near him as he did so. He glanced towards the words, feeling shock enter him when he realized that they were the question he had refrained from asking._ Who are you?

" _I'm sorry; this seems to be my fault." The man winced, not that Ace could actually see the gesture, getting more of a feeling than a visual representation. His vision still wouldn't focus on the man, the more he focused on the figure, the more a shadow seemed to cover the man's form. Ace glanced behind the man when black words appeared, focusing on those instead._ You weren't like this the last time…

 _The words instantly confused him, causing the card-wielder to glance at the man._

" _The… last time?" He took another step towards the man in the blank space. "How could there be a 'last time' if you said that this was the first?"_

" _What?" The question slipped out of the shadow's mouth, the figure glancing around until he too saw the fading words. "Huh… so that's how this works…"_

 _The man's reaction didn't cause Ace's confusion to ease up, instead tensing when the man let out a small laugh._

" _Sorry I'm not usually on the receiving end of this kind of thing. But I guess you wouldn't remember that, would you?" Ace shook his head at the man's strange behavior and phrase. If he knew any better, it almost seemed like the man knew him from somewhere…_

But where? As far as I can think of, I've never seen him in my life…

 _The blonde tried to think back to the various mission he had been on, wondering if that could have been where he had seen the man. No one came to mind, causing him to try and think about more recent events._

We had to have been somewhere before coming into the Pillar…

 _His thoughts turned muddled as he tried to think, the only thing coming to his mind being pitch black darkness. He tried to focus, feeling something hidden behind the space where he knew memories most likely were hiding._

But what…? _The card-wielder stopped once he felt a sharp pain go through his head, causing him to retreat and focus back on where he was. The figure must have noticed the blonde's pain due to him coming a bit closer, as if concerned, despite Ace still only being able to see a shadow of the man._

" _What caused you to lose your memories?"_ Did he seal them away…?

 _Despite the man not asking the question, it still popped up in thin air, causing Ace to focus on that instead._

" _Who?" The man shook his head, as if baffled by Ace's questions, not that he could blame the teen. After all, it wasn't his own fault that his memories were missing._

" _The End." The name brought back what the captured guard had told him:_ _ **"The End summoned you all here to…"**_ _Biting back frustration, Ace wished that he could have gotten more out of the captured enemy. It would have at least given them more to go off of than what they scarcely knew._

" _Who is… 'The End'?" The man merely shook his head once again, as if saddened by the question._

" _I would tell you if I could but…" The figure trailed off, as if remembering something, before staring back towards Ace. "That's something you're going to have to find out."_

 _Ace felt frustration enter him at the man's words._

" _But why-?!" He cut off as a sudden pain spiked through his head, causing him to raise his hand towards it to try and relieve the pain. His vision blurred as he glanced back up at the figure, the white area around him beginning to dim._

" _It seems that I've kept you here too long…" The figure also had a hand raised to his head, as if he too felt the same pain that Ace did._ There might be side effects…

" _Side… effects…?" Ace got the question out but never got an answer as everything once again faded to black and all sound vanished._

* * *

 **So this chapter is long overdue. Sorry for how long this took to get out but I don't find much time to write anymore. I know that this chapter is shorter than the others but this one is more of a prelude to what is to come. It gives you as the reader a little insight about what is happening in the story that the characters don't know about. What did you all think about the separate interactions? I'm not quite sure if I got the characters right since I haven't really seen much of 'The End' (other than his hatred for Sho in the game) and have yet to play Final Fantasy Agito (or Final Fantasy Online as they are now calling it) since it hasn't released in English yet. Can anyone take a guess at who they think the two figures are? Remember from last chapter that there were multiple voices in Ace's head right before he passed out. Where do you think the other person was since they didn't appear yet and who do you think they are? Please let me know what you all thought!**

 **-AnimeWolfGirl16**


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